Brazil to abolish taxes on food staples - president

BRASILIA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Brazilian President DilmaRousseff's government plans to eliminate all federal taxes onstaple foods, the latest in a series of tax cuts aimed atcurbing inflation.

Rousseff said on a radio talk show on Tuesday that federaltaxes have already been scrapped for rice and beans, theBrazilian worker's staple meal, but other basic foodstuffs willalso be exempted from taxation.

"These taxes must be removed, especially on the basic foodbasket," Rousseff said on a local radio station in Parana state.

Tax cuts and exemptions have been a prime tool used byRousseff's economic team to revive stagnant economic growth andcontrol inflation. Economists say inflation is speeding up afterending 2012 at 5.8 percent.

The government will update the list of 13 products in thebasket of goods deemed essential for a Brazilian family to livefor a month, which has not changed for years, she said. Besidesrice and beans, it includes bread, butter, meat, milk, coffee,sugar, oil, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and manioc flower.

"Since the basic basket law is so old, we are updating thelist of products so that we can eliminate all federal taxes onthem," Rousseff said.

She said the federal government had not been able toconvince state governments to join the move by scrapping theirown additional local taxes on staples.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Peter Murphy and JimMarshall)